Henry fielding brief biography

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It's titular character, Amelia, was modeled after his late first wife, Charlotte, and her character is considered the one redeeming value of this particular novel. However, Tom's status as a bastard causes Sophia's father and Allworthy to oppose their love; this criticism of class friction in society acted as a biting social commentary.

Having such a morally sound protagonist caused Fielding to stray slightly away from his traditional picaresque form.

These positions installed him in a courthouse which also served as his residence, in Bow Street, London.

In 1747, Fielding had married Charlotte’s former maid, Mary Daniel, who had been pregnant by him. Shamela was a satire that follows the model of the famous Tory satirists of the previous generation, especially (Jonathan Swift and John Gay.

Richardson's Pamela concerns the steadfast virtue of a young woman, Pamela, who has been been employed by the lecherous Mr. B-----, who has been making sexual advances at her, out of wedlock, leading to her practical imprisonment in his home. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution.

When the Licensing Act passed, political satire on the stage was virtually impossible, and playwrights whose works were staged were viewed as suspect. The inclusion of prostitution and sexual promiscuity in the plot was also original for its time, and also acted as the foundation for criticism of the book's "lowness."

Like his contemporary, Smollett, Fielding draws on a variety of literary sources.

By 1730, he was back in London managing theaters and writing plays, among them the still-famous Tom Thumb. His reward was to receive appointments as Justice of the Peace for Westminster in 1748 and for the county of Middlesex in 1749. He helped to develop the form from the epistolary works of Samuel Richardson in to one with more diverse characters, helping to pave the way for the psychological realism that would come after him.

Fielding, along with Samuel Richardson, has been referred to as one of the founders of the English novel. His most successful novels were Joseph Andrews (1742) and Tom Jones (1749). He married his wife's maid in 1747 after the two grew close during a period of grieving.

Later Works and Death

Fielding's legal training was at last put to good use in the late 1740s, when he was appointed justice of the peace for Westminster and then magistrate of Middlesex.

In the end, however, she still marries Mr. Booby (as Fielding named the anonymous "Mr. He also contributed greatly to the suppression of crime in London through his organization of the Bow-Street Runners, a squad of “thief-takers” that has been called London’s first professional police force.

In addition to his social and political vocations, Fielding also supported the literary ambitions of his younger sister, Sarah Fielding.

Fielding’s own existence at this time remained bleak, as his wife and daughter were dying, he himself was suffering from crippling gout, and his finances were grim.

Biography

Born at Sharpham near Glastonbury in Somerset, in 1707, Fielding was educated at Eton College. This move had made him a target of ridicule, but Fielding would later describe his second wife as “a faithful friend, an amiable companion, and a tender nurse.” In 1749, he published Tom Jones, his greatest work, a picaresque novel about a foundling who comes into a fortune.

He develops affection for his neighbor's daughter, Sophia Western.